I’ve thought about the Japanese HMG representation in Crossfire for many years. Specifically why did Arty & Rob decide to make them fire with only 3D? Here’s my latest thoughts and a proposed revision…
Continue reading “Rethinking Japanese HMGs in Crossfire”Tag: Japanese
Pacific Theatre Reading List
Back in late March 2020 New Zealand went into it’s initial (ultimately 5-week) lockdown to stop the spread of the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of that lockdown I took the opportunity to try and catch up on some reading on the pacific theatre (as I have accumulated a reasonable collection of books and had read only a few) – this is the reading list I put together for April 2020…
Continue reading “Pacific Theatre Reading List”D-Day New Guinea
“Java is heaven, Burma is hell, but you never come back alive from New Guinea” – Japanese military saying…
This book covers a little known and possibly not well documented portion of the Papua-New Guinea campaigns of World War II. While the desperate battles for Papua and the Kokoda Track are well documented, and MacArthur’s focus on getting to the Philippines as fast as, and by any means possible is well known, the (primarily) Australian led capture of Lae in New Guinea is not so well documented and perhaps under-rated – along with the privations the Japanese troops suffered in their eventual retreats over the mountains that equal (and perhaps exceed) those of the Kokoda campaign.
Continue reading “D-Day New Guinea”Some Great New WWII Dragon Armor
Dragon Armor has announced in the last few weeks the release of several of their new models planned for the 2011-2012 period, as many will know the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go and Type 97 Chi-Ha have both been released (there are now 2 colour schemes available for the former and 3 for the latter) along with the U.S. LVT-A(1) with 37mm gun turret, and various German light vehicles such as the SdKfz 222 Light Reconnaissance Car and SdKfz 251/22 Half-Track with PaK40 on board. Most recently has been the release of the Neubaufahrzeug from Panzerabteilung z.b.V.40 in Norway 1940. Now due in early 2012 are the German SdKfz 231 Heavy Reconnaissance Car in early war Panzer Grey (a much missed model from all ranges), and a British Infantry Tank Mk.IV Churchill Mk.III (the 6pdr version that served from Dieppe in 1942 until the end of the war in Italy and to a lesser extent in NWE.
Banzai – The Japanese are Coming!
I thought I’d throw up some preliminary photos of my 20mm Japanese troops – these are the bulk of a Battalion for Crossfire, along with some extra supports and an assortment of guns and tanks to represent most typical Japanese forces throughout the Pacific and Burma campaigns. The figures are mostly Eureka & Warmodelling (Fantassin), with a handful of Sgt. Major’s Miniatures chaps, a few SHQ Officers & NCOs (and a pair of 8cm Mortar Teams), and a couple of Combat Miniatures Officers and a few Scouts/Snipers (plus the Mounted Command Group).
The force represents a Japanese Battalion of 3 Rifle & 1 MG Company, with Regimental Support coming from a pair of 7cm Infantry Guns, and a single 7.5cm Mountain Gun, from the Regimental Gun Companies (visible in the background spray painted in grey primer).
Modelling Japanese in Crossfire
As mentioned in by blog entry Time To Do ‘The Pacific’ with Crossfire I have been inspired by the release of “The Pacific” by HBO to finally build a Japanese force for Crossfire, to game the early Pacific Campaigns of 1942-44 and the Burma/Malaya Campaigns. As I have a sizeable force of 1/72nd scale Japanese coming, I thought I would give some thoughts to how Japanese Battalions & Regiments were organised historically, what peculiarities and special weapons they had, and how these are best represented in Crossfire (i.e. as defined by the rules or by an alternate method). As a result these are my current thoughts on representing Japanese forces and most especially the presence of their main support weapons at Battalion level, over and above HMGs…
Time To Do ‘The Pacific’ with Crossfire
I’ve always had an interest in the Pacific Theatre, most especially the 14th Army in Burma & Malaya, and the early U.S. Marine operations such as in the Solomon’s (as the 3rd NZ Division was involved in additional actions in the chain after the main U.S. battle ended on Guadalcanal), the Gilbert (Tarawa) & Marshal Islands campaign, and perhaps ultimately the Mariana & Palau (Peleliu) Islands… After years and years (OK make that Decades) of procrastination I have finally bit the bullet and ordered the figures inspired by the release of “The Pacific” by HBO.
The Sword and the Flame [TSATF]
![The Sword and the Flame [TSATF]](https://wargaming.info/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/The-Sword-And-The-Flame-Revision-1-1986-front-cover-1.jpg)
Larry Brom wrote TSATF in 1979, and 30 years later it’s still going strong with very little changes! Having played TTG’s Soldiers of the Queen* [SotQ] fairly extensively since it was published in 1987 (in my earlier wargaming years) until a long hiatus from all colonial gaming in the early 1990s, I was only introduced to TSATF in recent years for the first time…
* Not to be confused with the Victorian Military Society’s Journal “Soldiers of the Queen“!
Continue reading “The Sword and the Flame [TSATF]”A Brief Outline of Japanese Tank Divisions in World War II
1st Armoured Division, WDA.
Formed July 1942.
- 1st Mobile Infantry Regiment.
- 1st Anti Tank Battalion.
- 1st Tank Regiment.
- 5th Tank Regiment.
- 1st Armoured Recon Unit
- 1st Mobile Artillery Regiment.
- 1st Armoured Divisional Antiaircraft Defence Unit.
- 1st Armoured Divisional Engineer Unit.